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37 thoughts on “Here we are!”

Can you provide a release date? And will it be US release or worldwide or India?
Will the first devices already be able to retain screen content while in suspend to ram?

Kindle DX ships globally as of Jan 19th and I’m seriously considering to get me one of those after all. I’ve been waiting for a good device since I got my OLPC XO. With the DX, a reasonable eReader is finally be available, even if not perfect(no stylus, no pixelqi, stupid keyboard)

however thought that since you are still in the prototype stage whether you could look at the lenovo’s U1 unit. The idea of having a clamshell into which an adam can be docked with a keyboard on the other side of the clamshell would make for a powerful add-on. allowing adam not just to be a slate but also a laptop for those of us who like real keyboards.

I mention it now because obviously it would need some form of electrical connection for the keyboard presumably by induction. I don’t know how far along you are but If I didn’t at least suggest the idea i would kick myself

As for keyboards my ideal of course would be a classic IBM buckling spring,
needless to say being a thinkpad fan i would love it to have a pointing stick as well! But…

Rohan, just let me congratulate you on Notion Ink’s SUCCESS. I really would like to meet you at CES and test Adam. Its future is just brillant, all the bloggers and journalist were just extatic about it.

I’m very worried at the rumour that Apple has recently preordered ALL 10″ LCDs and OLEDs from ALL major fabs. Somebody, just somebody, please tell me it’s not true.

I’m also very worried that Mary Lou of Pixel Qi mentioned half dozen OEMs embracing the technology (Pixel Qi=eInk silent killer, if somebody has some illusions about Kindle and the bunch still). Except for NI, nobody came out as of yet. Scared to death?

As much revolutionary Adam/Pixel Qi tablet looked, the formal king of CES 2010 was Tegra2. Which may easily mean it will be in very short supply for, say, such localities as Hyderabad. Unless there’s a nVidia fab right there. Is there?

All my ranting above is about how a classical vaporware is conceived, prototyped, demonstrated, pissed Jobs to no end, then killed. When talking about DIY Pixel Qi 10″ kits Mary Lou might foresee this ugly circumstance.

First, I haven’t seen any response from Mr. Rohan Shravan here, so it’s kinda useless to ask direct questions.
Second, AFAIK, the prototype was shown as a sample platform for OEMs. Never heard of any OEM picking up the overall design. It’s technically would be the task for them to decide, to put them in combo with famous IBM Metal Buckling Spring keyboard (don’t laugh so hard; I love IBM Metals), or USB 3 (that is kinda distant thing; I’d rather see ATSC/FM radios instead — and the whole American market is theirs).
Listen, the number of Tegra2 tablet prototypes is around half dozen already and grows every day. It’s the Pixel Qi display that sets this device completely apart from all the competition, real and even projected. So in your inquiries you’d better concentrate on how good this particular implementation of PixelQi principle is — and might be. For example, what prevents using very bright ISP multitouch capacitive display 1024×768 under the Gorilla brand glass (shown in iPad) as the base to build Pixel Qi screen out of it?
Then, Android 2.1 is fine for the most of markets, especially with complete smartphone software, but what about Maemo/Ubuntu/Windows CE/Mobile 7/XP? Chrome OS? Has anyone shown a proof of concept that these ports are doable? Then again, Snow Leopard can be run on virtually any netbook, can it do the same on Tegra 2 platform?
And only in the end I would ask for less significant improvement — like if you imagine OLPC project, or you look at the potentiall mass product for India, you might want (very much) a SOLAR and MICROWAVE battery charging shell back opening like that: “A” and charging the device all day and night.

Every question I’ve asked the company has gotten a direct reply from Rohan. If anything, the company is very responsive … it’s not at all “useless” to ask them direction questions.

While the PixelQi display is certainly the most visible and noteworthy thing that sets this device apart from the competition, it is not the only thing.

Based upon what I’ve been looking into, comparing to a few other 10″ tablets, the Adam is going to hitting a lot of sweet features in their design (1GB RAM, HDMI out, battery life, price point, dual use camera, supported external resolution). Really, looking down the list of specs for the iPad and the Adam … the Adam blows the iPad away, for about 2/3 of the price. The only edge the iPad has over the Adam is: iTunes integration. And, frankly, I’d rather have the choice of outlets (Amazon MP3 store, Rhapsody, ripping from CD’s bought at any venue, several ebook stores, etc.) than being tied to iTunes.

It WOULD be nice to see multi-boot options for Maemo and Ubuntu. Or even using the VMWare port to ARM CPU’s, so that you could simultaneously run Android, Maemo, and Ubuntu. Though, Maemo doesn’t actually run on anything other than Nokia hardware (not counting a blatant lie from one PDA maker), so that one’s not going to happen. But, Windows CE??? no. Not even remotely interested in any Wince nor Winmo devices (and Win7 or WinXP requires running an inferior CPU). And, until ChromeOS and Android merge (giving you Dalvik/Android apps on Chrome OS), I’m not interested in ChromeOS.

@localudal
If Rohan & NI facilitate a dev community around their devices (above and beyond the android) – you’ll quickly see people exploring multi-boot options for the device. As johnkzin points out – the capabilities of the device make it an ideal platform for all sorts of vertical markets above and beyond the broad horizontal market the base device running Android will allow. There’s a very large & active enthusiast community who’ll push the device to the limits and beyond 🙂

Picking up from the iPad launch – (ignoring how disappointing the device was) – key features of a successful device will be less about the hardware and more about responsiveness, ease-of-use (idiot proof for casual users) and it’s ability to work with existing media and services.

An end-user will want a device that’s usable from pushing the power-on button within 10-15s, they’ll want to be able to find a resource (magazine, book, music, etc), sample it and purchase it with the minimum number of hoops to jump through (much akin to the number of click-throughs needed in a web experience – the greater the number – the higher percentage of users that lose interest). Finally cross-use of resources is important – how simple it is to create & use a contact you have with other applications (look at how you can use contacts in the diary/planner on the iPad) – how easy it is to read the book you just downloaded or find it again tomorrow.

@johnkzin – a choice about the source of what you buy is good but it should be implemented properly. iTunes integration is more about what it gives you on the device – a single place to find, play and manage your music.

It’s this kind of holistic usability & polish that will make Adam a real contender to a larger audience – and what people take for granted with an Apple device.

Now Android itself lays the foundation for a lot of these things – but it has a way to go still to match the polish that will enable anybodies mother, grandfather & teenager to sit down and just use it.

Notion Ink have things difficult & some tough choices on a couple of fronts:

a)
From what I understand some of the Android badges/marketing materials/branding only apply to phones rather than computers (I can’t find my reference to this at the mo but I’ll dig and see what I can find). I’m not sure this type of device will be allowed to appear in the Google Android device store currently (which in itself is a shame as it would be a super medium allowing instant access to a large user base). From a tech-savvy perspective this isn’t a problem – but from an end-user brand awareness stance it puts NI in a corner.

b)
The route to the consumer – are NI looking to sell the device to consumers directly or are they looking to a partner to handle this aspect of sales (AT&T, Amazon, etc)? Working with a partner helps with funding, gives you access to a broad base of purchasers & makes distribution/support simpler – but ties your hands in many ways (partner branding, bespoke applications, feature removal & sandboxing), can introduce delays in the time-to-market and introduces complexity when dealing with multiple international markets

Personally I think the NI device is fantastic – we have a raft of applications that we’re looking to develop for it.

How successful the device will be depends on those features I mentioned above, the time to market and it’s price point. Apple is being very aggressive on the last 2 – aiming to capture (& entrap) a large slice of the consumer market before the competition get off of the starting blocks.

If NI announce they can GA the device in the next 4-6 weeks with units available 2-4 weeks after that – then they they should be able to grab a lions share of the market and, branding aside, compete with the iPad head-to-head for the consumer market. If GA is too much longer than that, then it will be harder to compete for the consumer market (without having a heavy-weight partner than brings it’s customer base) – the main market for NI will then be the enthusiast/eager beaver tech savvy crowd – which will generate sales but not in the volumes possible as a competing device to the iPad.

Just one more thing – I’d love to see integration or an option that allows wireless charging – ala PowerMat.
A couple of powermat’s around the home – bedside table, office desk and one in the living room – just leave the device on it – and it’s always topped up & ready to use.

Many Congratulations to Rohan and the Team who is behind NI.The product display at CES was truly amazing. Infact, it makes me feel proud to say the NI team behind is form India. I understand till the official launch of Adam, most of its details would be confidential. But my question for you only would be when can we expect this in market.I still hope if not a worldwide launch.. this product would be available in India very soon after its launch in USA (unlike other product which roughly takes about 6-12months)

@Dasher:
Mr Chippy of Carrypad.com fame has compiled an exhaustive list of features a successful tablet should have “on board”, or at least projected to have. It’s so exhaustive and comprehensive a list, I could only add just a few requirements out of possibilities that Pixel Qi technology may grant to such a tablet. You may want to browse it in my blog: http://fineoils.blogspot.com/2010/01/things-to-consider-when-designing-or.html

“…less about the hardware and more about responsiveness,…” you say? I don’t get it: How one can even hope to ever reach ANY level of “responsiveness” using inferior, expressly non-multitasking processor in an expressly multitasking multifunctional device?
It’s a rhetoric question, no need to start a discussion here. In Adam as a Tegra 2 machine with its 8-core processor you won’t have any trouble of responsiveness — all that one may need is well-tooled Android 2.1+

DUDE! HONEST TO GOD…BRILLIANT STUFF MAN! I’ve been tracking the updates on this thing and it all seems too good to be true. Serious and massive amounts of respect to you for undertaking such a radical venture. Maybe its will be an Indian after all who will show Apple how to do things. The firangs are stunned and so are we!
When are we getting this in India? If its the rumoured $380 price, darn it, ill buy one today! Keep us updated and do a parallel launch in India and the States at once. We’re waiting for it.

This one seriously worries me. I love the size of the device, and even more so (and I might be in the minority here), I love the thickness. It makes it look *sturdy*. When I heard the final version would be substantially thinner I was worried. How resilient is the final model going to be? If there’s any option for a thicker, say, 16-20mm model (which I’m doubtful of, given how hard it is to mass-produce a shell), I’d far prefer it.

dude , you should seriously think of silently launching this product in the heart of Akihabara, Japan. People here have grown sick of the netbooks and poor UI that are up on display. With the price point in the 30 to 35 thousand yen range and language support, which i guess will be developed by 3rd-party developers on Adam SDK, it will surely disrupt this market.
best of luck for the revolution in the making.

It is wonderful to know that Notion Ink, an Indian Company will be bring out a really good and competitive product.

I wish you and Notion Ink all the best.

Although I don’t really think I am qualified enough to comment on plans for the OS for Adam, however I would like to pass on a humble suggestion.

It is very important that Adam’s OS have a very user friendly OS.Given that Adam will be targeted at consumer who may have worked with Windows (atleast in India, like the IT crowd), it is important they should not feel “Windows is easier”.

People tend to consider their experience when they go for new products. The fact that Adam will come with a OS, not regularly used by the masses will cloud their judgement.

Hence I believe ease of use is very critical. Day to Day apps should be easily accessible and if possible installable. Consumer should not have feel there is a long learning curve.

Myself being a Mac OS(after dumping windows), it’s selling point for me is ease of use.

Also it would be wonderful if(possible) Adam is available in “customisable spec”. This would be needed for consumers, who would prefer specific functionalities without lot of bells & whistles and lower cost. May be consumer can order Adam from your website with ticking features they want and according to their budget.

Its a wonderful device taking care of a lot of things needed for a mobile user. I would like to add one feature that I will definitely need. Its a docking station, rather two. I want a dock for a car and a dock for my desk. The docks should make it possible to charge the device, provide audio out and provide HDMI/VGA/AV out through a single interface. The major difference being the voltages available to the two docks.

It took you awhile, to respond, lol. Even now, there is a significant shortage of FINE IPS type LCD displays of 10″ caliber. What is more or less available to ordinary OED/OEMs is low grade, cheap LCDs.

Now, nVidia is keeping their mum posture about when the “difficulties” with Tegra 250 SoCs will be resolved, and picturing more colrful prospects of making Tegra 3 SoCs instead. Only in 2011, Q2-Q4, sorry, lol.

PixelQi and all that gang OLPC (I call them “No Child’s Behind Is Left”) it’s a movable circus, still.